About the Author

Stephan Kinsella, a libertarian since high school in the early 1980s, is a patent attorney and libertarian writer. Formerly a partner with Duane Morris LLP and General Counsel for Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., he has over thirty years’ experience in patent, intellectual property, and general commercial and corporate law. He was founder and Executive Editor of Libertarian Papers, is Director of the Center for the Study of Innovative Freedom, and was adjunct professor at South Texas College of Law Houston. His libertarian publications include Property, Freedom, and Society: Essays in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe (Mises Institute, 2009), Against Intellectual Property (Mises Institute, 2008), and numerous articles on the application of libertarian principles to legal topics. His legal publications include International Investment, Political Risk, and Dispute Resolution: A Practitioner’s Guide, 2d ed. (Oxford University Press, 2020); Trademark Practice and Forms (Oxford/Thomson Reuters, 2001–2013); Digest of Commercial Laws of the World (Oxford, 1998–2013); and Louisiana Civil Law Dictionary (Quid Pro Books, 2011). He received an LL.M. (international business law) from King’s College London, a JD from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University, and BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from LSU.

A native of Prairieville, Louisiana, he lives with his wife, Cindy in Houston, Texas.